Link: http://victoria.tc.ca/~reed

50 Fresh Starts and Counting

Life-altering transformations take place here. A former rooming house, Cool Aid Society's Next Steps Transitional Shelter provides the opportunity for 15 emergency shelter clients to access the resources they need to make the transition from a state of homelessness to stabilized housing.

Funded by BC Housing and the United Way of Greater Victoria, and fully supported by the community through a Good Neighbour Agreement, Next Steps is fundamentally different than most shelters. While emergency shelters such as Streetlink and Sandy Merriman House meet the basic needs of temporary shelter, hygiene services and meals, Next Steps provides a vital bridge between these much-needed emergency shelters and permanent housing. Residents find a longer-term, more stable home at Next Steps, staying between 30 and 90 days. This is in contrast to emergency stays at Streetlink that are usually a result of short-term crises.

During their stay at Next Steps, the three unique core elements of the transition program are actively developed: income, long-term housing, and the development of community within the shelter. At present, four of the residents work, while two volunteer at the Mustard Seed and the Immigration Centre. Employment services that are available include assistance in preparing resumes and covering letters, online job searches facilitated by Project Literacy, and mock interviews. Training in Foodsafe is available on-site, while WHMIS and Industrial First Aid training is available through the John Howard Society. The REES network also provides a pool of prospective employers.

The majority of Next Steps clients move into housing provided by Pacifica and BC Housing. In instances where only market-based housing is available, the United Way provides vital top-up. According to one of the client services workers, “independent living is preferable, as sharing can be destabilizing if one person decides to leave.”

Promoting a sense of community, responsibility and interaction with others is an integral part of this program. Various rotating chores (cooking, cleaning, and landscaping), movie and pizza nights, a survival cooking program and an art group develop these important life skills. The “ambiance of a home setting fosters personal ingenuity and creativity,” while the one-on-one counselling allows the individuals the get “more in touch with their personal needs.”

In addition to the three core elements, Next Steps also provides medical and dental services, follow-ups every 3 to 6 months after departure, the opportunity to reconnect with family, assertiveness training, and relaxation exercises.

Next Steps focuses on supporting individuals who have elected to move forward in their lives after a crisis. In this smaller community setting of only 15 residents, there is a much greater emphasis on individual growth and how they interact with others, something that is not possible in an emergency shelter of 95 beds. Making the transition to a more promising future is a complex process that requires not only commitment by client services and outreach workers, but by each individual who takes ownership of the process by constructing a personal action plan.

After only one year of operation, fifty individuals have moved through this program and are now living independently.